Fluid-pressure sole press



April 9, 1957 H. E. MARAsco 2,787,799

FLUID-PRESSURE sow PRESS Filed Feb. e 195e INVENToR.

Y g Z/MTWM- United States This invention comprises aL new` and improved sole press constructed and arranged for conforming andattachingl soles tothe bottoms of lastedr shoes and operated by iiuid pressure. lt is herein shown as embodied in a press of the turret type such as that shown in my prior United States Letters Patent No. 2,608,703, September 2, i952, and in one aspect constitutes an improvement of that machine although not by any means limited in its application thereto.

One object of the invention is to quicken the pressure applying step of the sole laying operation by simultaneously moving both the pad and the heel post under uid pressure instead of moving only the pad as in the machine of my prior patent.

Another object is to improve the clearance conditions of the machine parts and so facilitate the step of presenting a lasted shoe to the pad box. This is effected by now locating the heel post at the beginning of each cycle at the point of maximum separation from the pad and then advancing the heel post simultaneously with the ination of the pad.

An advantage of my novel construction is that it latent adapts the press for handling high and low heel shoes without interruption for the necessity of mechanical adjustment of the heel post as by ratchet mechanism or the like. It also obviates the danger of subjecting a lasted shoe to the sole laying operation with defective results while the heel post is improperly adjusted. The construction herein disclosed in general results in improving the speed and accuracy of the sole laying operation and for this reason it has been found that uniform and satisfactory results may be achieved with the employment of less pressure than heretofore.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing in which the figure is a view in elevation with certain parts shown in longitudinal section.

The invention is herein shown as embodied in the machine of my prior patent above identified and certain details of construction, such as the starting and stopping mechanism, the valve and valve operating mechanism, while not shown herein may be identical or similar to the corresponding parts shown in the patent.

The frame 10 of the machine is designed to support a rotatable turret in which is included a tluid pressure reservoir in the shape of a vertically disposed cylinder 11i supported by ball bearings upon the frame. Fluid under pressure is supplied to the cylinder 11 and maintained always under working pressure through connections leading to the bottom of the cylinder. A cap or sleeve 13 is adjustably mounted on the upper end of the cylinder being held against rotary movement thereon by slot and pin connections and vertically adjusted thereon byv means of a screw having a hand wheel 14.

The turret carries four to six sole press units of which two are shown in the gure. Arms 15 project radially from the cylinder 11 andy each carries atitsouter endl'V a base plate l'inclined downwardlyA and` outwardly-at substantially 45 Upon each of thebase'plat'e`s`16"'ismounted a pad boxv 17 connected to thebase plate for radial adjustment by a screwlS. The. pad boitv contains an inflatable pad 19Y ofv the usual well-knowncon'st'ruc'- tion. Each pad is connected to the'fluid pressure cylinder it by a radial pipe 20 in which is placed a valve 21. The valve may be opened manually with the pressunit in' its initial position or as it moves. out of initial position; maintained open for a period andzthen may bel-closed asi the unit completes its circuit-inthe rotation ofthe turret.

The adjustable cap'or sleeve 13 is" provided witl-i'lout-f wardly extending" overhanging arms'22'.corresp"ondingy to the arms 15 of the cylinder 11. At'th'e'end of.- each: arr 22' is a bracket 23 to which is secured aV fluid pressure cylinder 2a. A fluid pressure pipe 25 leadsffrom the head ofthe cylinder 24to thefluidpressurepipe 20 atfa'fpointvadjacent the valve 21 and thus provides direct pipe connections between the cylinder and pad. From this it will be seen that the valve 21 controls the admission of fluid under pressure simultaneously to the pad 19 and the cylinder 24.-

Within the cylinder 24 is provided a piston 26 connested to a piston rod 27 which carries the heel post 28. A coil spring 29 tends always to move the piston 26 to an initial position in the outer end of the cylinder 24, thus holding the heel post at its point of maximum separation from the pad 19.

Each arm 22 is also provided with a bracket 30 upon which is mounted a toe post 31 arranged to engage the forepart of the shoe in the sole laying operation.

In the figure the pad 19 is shown in collapsed condition and the heel post 28 in its initial position at the left side of the ligure. It will be apparent that in this position maximum clearance of the parts is provided for presentation of a lasted shoe to the pad with a sole properly spotted on the shoe bottom.

Having thus presented the shoe under favorable clearance conditions, the valve 21 is opened either manually or automatically whereupon the pad 19 is immediately inilated and the shoe moved upwardly and outwardly thereby and simultaneously the heel post is advanced into the position shown at the right side of the figure. Full uid pressure is thus rendered efective to carry out the sole laying operation and pressure is continued during the time interval of the turret rotation. in this rotation each unit is carried from the station of presentation to the discharge station and this may be spaced as much as 300 from the former. At the discharge station the valve 21 is operated to vent the pressure system of each unit to the atmosphere, whereupon the pad 19 immediately collapses and the heel post is retracted by the spring 29 to its initial position.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail a preferred embodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

yl. A sole press including in its structure' an inflatable pad mounted to underlie the bottom of a lasted shoe, a fluid operated heel post mounted opposite the heel end of Y the pad, means for simultaneously inflating the pad and aterra@ to the cylinder, and means for bodily moving the pad and heel post as a unit.

3. A sole press including in its structure a rotatable turret, an inatable pad mounted on the turret to underlie a lasted shoe, an oppositely disposed movably mounted heel post also mounted on the turret, and means carried by the turret for inating the pad and advancing the heel post under the actuation of equal fluid pressure.

4. A sole press including in its structure a rotatable turret, a plurality of sole pressing units carried by the turret each comprising an inflatable pad, an overbanging arm. a fluid-pressure cylinder mounted on the arm, a piston in the cylinder carrying a heel post, and direct pipe connections between the pad and cylinder for conducting uid under pressure to the pad and the cylinder while in rotation with the turret.

. 5. A sole press having a main frame and including in its structure a cylindrical fluid-pressure reservoir mounted in the frame for rotation about a vertical axis, a plurality of units spaced radially about said reservoir and each comprising an inatable pad, an overhanging arm, a cylinder and pistou carried by the arm, a heel post actuated thereby, and fluid pressure connections between said reservoir on the one hand and said pad and cylinder on the other hand.

6. A sole press as described in claim 5 further charac terized in that the fluid pressure connections are rotatable with each of the units and include a controlling valve for each unit.

7. In a turret sole press, an inflatable pad for underlying a lasted shoe, an overhanging arm carrying a fluid pressure cylinder and piston, a heel post mounted in the piston, a spring acting on the piston tending always to iairrtain it with the heel post in position of maximum separation from the pad, and connections for admitting fluid under pressure simultaneously to the pad and the Huid pressure cylinder.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 28,871 France Jan. 8, 1925 (1st addition to No. 576,393)

228,531 Great Britain Jan. 28, 1924 557,915 France May l2, 1923 

